Otters Pool Studio

Coronavirus Update

We continue to prepare for re-opening our showroom on 15th June and appointments are already flooding in through our booking system. As such, we have now removed the 'drop-off' and 'pick-up' options although this can still be arranged if urgent by contacting us.

27 May 2020

The Government has advised that we can re-open our showroom on June 15th and as such we are experimenting with ways in which we can maintain social distancing when we do. In the meantime, we continue to receive orders for framing without consultation as detailed in the 13 May update below.

13 May 2020

Following the latest update to lockdown restrictions, it is now possible to meet on a one to one basis with members of another household in an outdoor space whilst maintaining social distancing. A such, our showroom remains closed for full consultations but we are meeting customers for the exchange of items for framing or for the collection of completed orders in the Mayford Centre BACK car park.

If you have something for framing and know how you would like it framed, please book a DROP-OFF appointment from our website booking system. If you have something for framing but need advice and to look at options, please subscribe to our mailing list to be notified when our showroom will reopen.

If you have an outstanding order that you would like to collect from us, please book a PICK-UP appointment from our website booking system. When you arrive at the Mayford Centre BACK car park we will bring your order out for you. Please respect social distancing whilst doing so.

05 May 2020

We continue to receive an increasing number of enquiries and are doing what we can to accommodate requests. Our workshop is operational and we are receiving framing and printing orders from people who know what they want. Whilst we are not promoting non-essential travel, if you feel you can justify the journey to us, we are happy to meet you in the car park (whilst maintaining all necessary social distancing) at a pre-arranged time to take your items for framing from you. Please contact us for more details. Our showroom remains closed as per government guidelines, so if you don't know what you want and need a framing consultation, we ask that you subscribe to our mailing list to be the first to hear when our showroom will be reopened.

20 April 2020

The first three weeks of lockdown have flown by for us as we have continued to maintain an operational workshop, and as a result have worked through our backlog of orders. Our showroom remains closed so it is not possible to hold consultations for new orders. However, we have been taking new orders following email exchanges to determine frame specifications, and then receiving artwork by post, or in some cases, with customers handing over artwork to us at a pre-arranged time in the car-park (whilst maintaining all necessary distancing of course!).

With the extension of the lockdown now in place, we are receiving an increasing number of enquiries as to when we will be able to see customers again. As soon as the government guidelines allow us to do so, we will open up our booking system for consultations. If you wish to stay informed of when this happens, please subscribe to our mailing list.

In the meantime, we thank you for your patience and look forward to seeing you all when the lockdown restrictions are lifted.

24 March 2020

There are two elements to the Otters Pool Studio business - retail and manufacture.

The retail element involves meeting my customers to discuss their framing and printing requirements, and handing back their completed orders. This is considered a non-essential service and so in light of the Prime Ministers announcement last night, I have suspended all showroom based consultations for the foreseeable future.

However, no restrictions have been placed on the manufacturing side of the business, and as I can work alone locked in my workshop, I will continue to operate from it until this changes. As such, I would welcome a continuation of custom in any way possible and there are still ways that this can take place:

Framing

- you can post your artwork to me - please contact me first to schedule.

- If you need a website for any reason, new website customer are very welcome at this time!

Please note that I cannot guarantee when framing or printing orders will be completed or when they can be collected, as this will be dictated by the Government restrictions applied during the lockdown period.

I thank you all for your continued support and custom at this difficult time.

Jon

20 March 2020

We currently remain operational here at Otters Pool Studio despite the ongoing coronavirus situation. Most of our work is carried out in isolation in our workshop so we are continuing to make frames as normal to fulfil existing orders.

However, we still need new orders to maintain our business, and so are offering a range of additional temporary measures to help support our customers who are self-isolating. We request respectfully that you do not engage in our services if you are experiencing definite, suspected or potential virus symptoms, and we will promise to do the same.

If you have had framing from us before and have something else that you would like to have framed in exactly the same way or very similar, we are happy to collect artwork from you, as long as you are not too far away. For both our safety and yours, we will request a handover at the doorstep and will not enter your property.

If you have a good idea on how you would like something framed, we are again happy to collect your artwork and then discuss options with an exchange of photos and ideas by email.

If you need to see and go through all options, this is practically done with a full consultation, and you can still book appointments from our website for these to take place here at our Mayford Centre showroom. As we work by appointment only, we will only ever have one customer in at a time, and we would ask that you keep the number of people in your party to an absolute minimum when calling.

In all cases, we will keep our distance as much as practically possible, we will refuse handshakes, and practice handwashing and anti-bacterial spray application in accordance with Government guidelines.